Machine for folding or curling hat-brims



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-+Sheet .1.

. R. BICKEMEYER.

v MACHINE FOR FOLDING 0R GURLING'HAT BRIMS. No; 349,701. f Patented Sept. 28, 1886'.

N. PETERS. Pholvutlwgmaher, Washnglon. D. C.

(No Model.)

7 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. R. EIOKEMEYER. V MACHINE FOR FOLDING 0R GURLING HAT BRIMS. No. 349,701.

Patented Sept. 28, 1886. E .3. F' 4/.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RUDOLF EIOKEMEYER, OF YONKERS, NEIV YORK.

MACHINE FOR FOLDING OR CURLING HAT-BRIMS.

ELECIPIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 34 9,701, dated September 28, 1886.

- Application filed February 9, 1886. Serial No. 191,315. (No modem To all whom, it may concern.-

' Be it known that I, RUDOLF EIOKEMEYER, of Yonkers. in the county of Vestchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Folding or Curling Hat-Brims,- and I do hereby declare that the following specification, taken in connection with thedrawings furnished, and forming a part thereof, is a clear, true, and complete description of my invention.

My said improvements have been devised with special reference to their use upon such machines as were disclosed in my Letters Patout No. 308,759, December 2, 1884, and also in my subsequent applications, Serial Nos. 167,579 and 187, 235. In said machines expansible and contraetible brim folding rings of various kinds are employed in connection with a brim bed, a guide plate which defines the line offold, and a guidc-ring, on which said plate is mounted. The brim of ahat is clamped between the bed and the guide,while the brimfolding ring operates in fol ding or curling those portions of the brim which project beyond the peripheries ofsaid bed and plate. I11 such machines the parts between which the brim is thus clamped should be so mounted as to enable them to be promptly and easily separated for the insertion and removal of hats. In my Letters Patent N 0. 308,758, December 2, 1884, these parts are separated by vertical line movement, that movement being also heretofore common in presses embodying flexible diaphragms, which serve as expansible and contractible brim folding rims; but in my aforesaid Letters Patent N o. 308,759, and in said pending applications, the machines illustrated are so organized that said parts are sep arated by a swinging movement, a portion of the movable parts being mounted upon a top frame, which is pivoted at its rear end to the main frame. Vhether the brim-folding ring be carried on said swinging frame, or it be stationary on the main frame, or whether the guide-plate and its ring be mounted on the main frame or on said swinging frame, the separating movements should, for obtaining the best results, be practically vertical, or at right angles to the plane occupied by the brim of the hat during the operation'thereon by the brim-fol ding ring. In my prior machines having said swinging frames the separating move ment is in the are of a circle of which the pivotal point is the center. The main object of portions of my present invention is to obtain the rightline movement referred to, and to tendant upon the use of the swinging or pivoted frame. To that end I have mounted said top frame atits rear upon a pivot or rock-shaft, which is pivotally coupled by means of one or more levers and links to the main frame, and is itself mounted upon arms which are pivotally mounted upon a stationary axis or pivot, so that as the front or free end of said frame is raised or lowered its pivot or rock-shaft is caused to move forward or backwardby means of said one or more levers and links, each lever being securely mountedon the rock-shaft and pivoted at its end to a link,this latter at its opposite end being pivoted to'the main frame.

In my said Letters Patent N 0. 308,759 no provision was made for inserting a hat into the machine in an inverted position; but in my aforesaid applications machines are described in which a hat may be inserted either side up, and hence enable the edges of brims to be folded or upon the lower or under side of the brim.

Another portion of my present invention block and in an inverted position can be mounted upon and carried by any variety of top frame. In my prior machines hats on blocks were capable of being thus mounted upon and therein employed for that purpose consist of a pair of suspended spring-tongs, which pass their tips into and through a hole in a hat block, and by expansion so look themselves therein as to reliably hold the block witha hat thereon in an inverted and suspended position, and on compressing the handles of said tongs the block is released. I have now devised a key-block which is mounted on a sliding rotative rod which is controlled by a spring, and passes through ahat-block, so that when thelatter is mounted on or placedin contact with said top frame the key-block, on passing through the hatbloek and then being partially rotated, will lock the block to the frame, the spring serving to so control said key-block as to recarried'by a swinging top frame, and the means nevertheless secure the desirable results at or curled, either upon the upper (or usual side) relates to novel means whereby a hat on a' duce to a minimum the liability of accidental separation between the hat-block and the frame.

After fully describing my present improvements in connection with the drawings, the features deemed novel will be specified in the several clauses of claim hereunto annexed.

Referring to the two sheets of drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical central longitudinal section of the main frame of a brim-folding machine, and a top frame applied thereto, in accordance with a certain portion of my present invention. Fig. 2 is a top or plan view of the same. Figs. 3 and 4 are different side views of my improved devices by which hat-blocks with hats thereon may be locked to a top frame in a suspended and inverted position. Fig. 5 is a top or planview of the same. Fig. 6, in longitudinal vertical section, illustrates the upper portion of one form of my brimfolding machine, and also illustrates the blockholding device as applied to the pivot-ed top frame of the machine.

co-operate with said movable parts.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, I will state that the main frame A may be of any desired form, according to the particular variety of expansible and contractible brim-folding ring employed in the machine,due provision being made for all necessary bearings for the movable parts of the machine, as well as ample supports for such stationary parts aspassively The top frame, B, may be also widely varied in form, subject,of course,to similar conditions to those already expressed in connection with the main frame. 7

As essential features, in connection with certain portions of my invention, the main frame must afford a bearing or a suitable support for the lower ends of two links, a, and, as here shown, said bearing is in the form of a rod, 1), transversely mounted in the main frame, and at its rear side. Said main frame must also afford ears or studs to receive the pi votbolts 0, by which one or two links, d, may be pivotally connected to the top of the main frame, and at one or both sides thereof.

As an essential feature in the top frame, it must be so constructed that it can receive and securely hold an oval structure, which may either be a guide-ring and guide-plate or a flexible diaphragm and its housing, it being Wholly immaterial to certain portions of my present invention what is mounted on or carried by said top frame, so long as said top frame carries or supports more or less of the parts of the machine which actually contribute to the performance of the brim-curling operation. As here shown, said frame carries a guide-ring, e, and a guide-plate, f, asin the best forms of my machine, regardless of the particular character of the brim-folding ring which maybe employed therewith. This top frame, as in my prior machines, is provided at its rear end with bored lugs 9; but instead of being hinged upon a rod or pivot, or rockshaft having stationary bearin gs, as heretofore,

Ihave now locked or keyed said lugs to a horizontally-vibrating rock-shaft, h, which serves as a hinge rod or pivot, and has bearings in the tops of the two links a, before referred to, these links serving, in substance, as a vertical hinged frame, on the top of which said top frame is pivoted or hinged.

As another novel feature, the rock-shaft h has at one or both ends a lever-arm, h, keyed or otherwise secured thereto, so that a lifting movement of the top frame, as by the handle shown, said lever arm or arms will also be elevated. Two of said arms, h, are here shown, one at each end of the rock-shaft, and at their outer ends each is pivotally coupled with a link, d, before referred to. A couir ter-weight lever, 13, is secured to the rockshaft 9, and projects rearwardly therefrom, so as to practically balance the top frame.

Now, referring to Fig. 1, it should be ob served that the top frame isin a depressed position, and that the arms h and links d stand practically horizontal, and with their pivots and the rock-shaft g practically in line with each other. It should now be obvious that when the top frame is raised at its front end the rock-shaft g will be drawn forward by the links (I, as indicated by the positions of the latter at dotted lines (1, thus causing the frame at a central point within the oval ring to rise in a right line, as indicated by the dotted line 0 in Fig. 1, and when the frame is again depressed the links d will force the rockshaft rearward. The value of this or any equivalent mode of mounting the top frame will be apparent when it is considered that hats with extra-high crowns can be encircled by said guide-ring without any liability of contact between a crown and said ring, whereas if the top frame were pivoted upon a rockshaft in stationary bearings or upon fixed studs or pivots, such high crowns would be more or less liable to be defaced by being struck by said ring. This point of value is available not only when the edges of brims are to be folded or curled upon their upper sides, but also when the frame carries a hat on a block, and in an inverted position, because in this latter case the crown of a hat has to be carried down through an opening in a brimbed, as will hereinafter be made more fully apparent. It will be obvious that said leverarms h and links d serve also to limit the upward movement of the frontportion of the top frame.

Referring now to Figs. 3, 4, and 5, it will be understood that the oval guide-ring e, herc shown, is the same as has been hereinbefore rcferred to as being mounted in or upon the top frame, B. At the inner side, near its lower edge, this ring is-provided with a plate, 6", which may be integral with said ring, or detachable therefrom, and it may be solid, as shown in Fig. 5, or in the form of radial arms, as indicated in. dotted lines in said figure, it being immaterial. how it is formed or how attached to said ring or to said frame, so long as ICO it can serve as a foundation on which to mount a hat-block or a hatblock chuck, it, so it will depend from said frame and afford proper guide-bearings for a rod, Z, having at its lower end a key-block, m. Said rod is guided at its upper end in a-crossbar, Z, mounted on posts I", firmly secured to said foundation-plate 6 The hat-block chuck 7; may be widely varied without departure from my invention, and it may, in fact, be dispensed with without dcparture from certain portions of my invention, by the employment of a pair of dowel-pins as a poor substitute therefor; but for obtaining the best results I use a chuck of the character devised by me, disclosed in my Letters Patent No. 317,104, dated May 5, 1885. The chuck k, here shown, is in one of my patented forms, and for the purposes of this specification it need only be described as a tenon of such peculiar form that it can only occupy a shell on a block, which is mortiscd to conform thereto, and so that a hat-block can only be mounted thereon in one position, or, in other words, with the front portion of a hat always in its proper position. The key-block m may also be indefinitely varied in form, so long as it can pass through a hole in a hat-blockwhen in a certain position; and tlien be incapable of return ing through said hole when partially turned or rotated,aiter the manner of the ordinary turnbutton. \Vhen used with a chuck, said block has an outline substantially corresponding to the outline of the outer face of the chuck, so that it will surely pass into and through a shell or mortise which can properly receive a chuck. As here shown, the key block is mounted on its rod substantially central on one line; but it is at the one side of its center on a line crosswise of the first, as illustrated in Fig. L. As thus far described, it will be obvious if a hatblock, a, Fig. 6, be placed on the chuck and the key-block partiallyrotated by means of its rod, so as to stand crosswise of the hole in the block, as indicated in said figure, that the block and top frame will be locked together, and it will, be equally obvious that this locking efi'e'ct wouldbe the same if the chuck were dis 'pensed with and do wel-pins used in lieu there of, as indicated in dotted lines at a, Fig. 3.

The key-block rod Z need not be more than rotative when arranged in its simplest form; but it is desirable that it should also be capable of longitudinal movement, so that the key-block may properly engage with brow blocks of varied thickness, and also so that I may provide for convenient automatic action of the key-block in taking its locking position. andalso for enabling a spring to so control said rod that the key-block, when in its locked position, will be forcedagainst the coincident surface of the brow-block with which it may be engaged. I have therefore encircled said rod with a spiral spring, 0. \Vhen used as a mere clamping or locking spring, the upper end abuts against the under side of a collaror a handle, and its foot bears upon the plate 6 and then it operates solely as an expansive or lifting spring. When used solely as means for automatically throwing the keyblock into its locked position by partially rotating the rod Z, said spring is attached at its ends to said handle, or to the rotatively-adjustable collar 0' on the rod and to said plate, so that it then operates only as a torsional spring. As here shown, however, it operates bath as an expansive'or lifting spring and as a tersional spring. On the underside of the crossbar Z,and surrounding the rod Z,there is a hub provided with a scroll or cam-face,p, and the spring 0 normally forces the handle pupward- 1y againstsaid face. Said hub has also a vertical shoulder, 19", at the highest end of the scroll, and the spring 0 normally throws the handle 1) against said shoulder, which. serves as a stop. Now, it should be obvious that when said handle is in its normal position the rod and key-block will be elevated, as shown in Fig. 6; but when said rod is partially rotated, as by means of its handle, said block will be forced by the cam-faced hub downward into the position shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and also that when said handle is released these parts will all promptly and automatically resume their normal positions.

In order that the key-block may be held in position, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, while a brow-block with a hat thereon is being placed upon the chuck, I have applied a latch-lever, q, pivoted to a depending lug on the cross-bar Z, and arranged to engage with the handle 1), as clearly shown in the drawings. This latch may be lifted by hand whenever desired; but for enabling both hands of the operator to be used for mounting the hat and its block'on the chuck I have provided for the automatic re lease of the handle by coupling to said latch apendent rod, 1', which passes through the foundation-plate 0, whereby, whenever a browblock is moved upward toward and against said plate, the upper surface of said block will strike the lower end of said rod and-cause a release of thehandle and the key-bloek,which will then be lifted and semi-rotated into its locking position, and there firmly held by the spring.

The sectional view, Fig. 6, shows the upper portion of a brim-folding machine containing all of my present improvements; but it does not illustrate an expansible and contractible brim -folding ring, because it is obviously wholly immaterial to any portion of my present invention what particular kind of brim.- folding ring is employed. In said figure the guidering and guide-plate are shown; but it is to be distinctly understood that it is immaterial to certain portions of my p1.'esentinvention whether the guide ring and plate be mounted on the top frame or on the main frame below it, or whetherabrim-folding ring be mounted upon the main frame or on the top frame, because the main feature of myinvcntion obviously relates to a top frame hinged in a novel manner to the mainframe in a brim folding or curling machine, re

ICO

gardless of the special contrivances which pendent of such other devices as may be mounted on or carried by said frame, or of the particular character of the main frame, as wellas of the devices mounted thereon, it being clear that said hat-mounting contrivance will serve an equally good purpose in all connections in a brim-folding machine for holding a hatwhile mounted on its block, and in an inverted po-,

sition.

The parts of the machine before described in connection with Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, are shown in Fig. (i, and corresponding letters of reference are, therein employed.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In a hat-brim folding or curling machine, the combination, substantially as hereinbefore described, of a main frame, and a top frame hinged to said main frame upon a hinge-rod which is vibrated toward and from the front of said main frame simultaneously with the lifting of the front end of said top frame, whereby that portion of the top frame at which more or less of the brim folding or curling devices are carried will be moved substantially in a right line toward and from an underlying portion of the main frame.

2. In a hat-brim folding or curling machine, the combination, with the main frame and the top frame, of the rock-shaft secured to said top frame, the pivoted links on which said rock-shaft is mounted, a lever-arm secured to said rock-shaft, and a link pivoted to the main frame and pivotall y coupled to said arm, substantially as described, whereby when the top frame is lifted and lowered said link will cause said rock-shaft to be moved toward and from the front portion of the main frame, for the purposes specified.

3. In a hat-brim folding and curling ma chine, the combination, with a top frame, of a semi-rotative key-block, substantially as described, whereby a hat on a block having a hole therein for the passage of said key-block may be mounted upon and supported in an inverted position "by said top frame.

4. In a hat-brim folding and curling machine, the combination, with a top frame, of a semi-rotating key-block mounted on a longitudinally-sliding rod, and a spring for lifting said keyblock, substantially as described,

whereby a hat on a block having a hole therein for said key-block can be locked to said frame and firmly held thereon by said key-block and its spring.

5. In a hat-brim folding and curling machine, the combination of a top frame, a keyblock mounted upon a semi-rotative rod in bearings on said frame, .and a torsional spring, substantially as described, whereby said keyblock isnormally maintained in its locked position while confining a block with a hat thereon to said top frame.

6. In a hat-brim folding and curling ma chine, the combination, substantially as hereinbcfore described, of a top frame, a key-block mounted on a rotative and sliding rod, and a spring which operates torsionally for semirotating said rod and key-block, and which also lifts said key-block when in locked engagement with a hat-block.

7. In a hat-brim folding and curling machine, the combination, substantially as here inbefore described, of the top frame, the keyblock mounted on a sliding rotative rod on said frame, the spring, the handle on said rod, and the cam-faced hub.

S. In a hat-brim folding and curling ma chine, the combination, substantially as hereinbefore described, of the top frame, the heyblock mounted on a sliding and rotative rod, the spring, the cam-faced hub, the handle on said rod, and the latch which holds said heyblock in its unlocked position.

9. In a hat-brim folding and curling machine, the combination, substantially as here'- inbefore described, of the top frame, the keyblock mounted on a rod, the spring, the latch, and the pendent rod on said latclnvwhereby the key-block is released from the control of said latch by the placing of a brow-block into proper relations with said key-block.

10. In a hat-brim folding or curling machine, the combination, substantially as here inbefore described, of a top frame carrying a guide-ring and a guide-plate for co-operating with a brim-folding ring, and a key-block for looking a hat while on its block to said frame, and in an inverted position centrally with relation to said ring.

11. In a hat-brim folding or curling machine, the combination, substantially as hereinbefore described, of the top frame, the hatblock chuck mounted on and depending from said frame, and the rotative key-block at the outer face of said chuck for locking a hat block thereon.

RUDOLF EICKEMEYER.

\Vitnesse LESLIE M. SAUNDERS, James S. Enron. 

